CBN withdraws $485.4m from external reserves in 17 days

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has withdrawn over $485.4 million from Nigeria’s external reserves since the start of December.

The money was withdrawn between December1st and December 17th according to CBN data obtained from its website.

The withdrawals as Nigeria reserves dropped down to $40.66billion after hitting a height of almost N42 billion on October 29.

Analysis of the data showed December started with the reserves at $41.2 billion and consistently fell in the last 17 days.

This trend according to analysts at Cowry Assets Management Limited will persist this week as CBN looks to meet dollar demands during the festive season.

With oil prices failing to maintain over $70 per barrel, it appears that any opportunity of saving into foreign reserves may be difficult to come by.